The Anthem Philatelist

The National anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 1918–1929) was created in December 1918 from the national anthems of the Kingdom's main three constituent historical provinces: Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. In those times the official authorities considered the three nations, Croats, Serbs and Slovenes as one nation with three names. The official language was thus called the Serbo-Croato-Slovene language. Although a law on the national anthem did not exist, the anthems of all three South Slavic nations were unified into a single anthem of the Kingdom. It started with a few measures from the Serbian anthem "Bože pravde", continued with a few lines from the Croatian anthem "Lijepa naša domovino", which were in turn followed by a few lines from the traditional Slovenian anthem "Naprej zastava slave". The anthem finished with some lines from the Serbian anthem again. It was officially used between 1919 and 1941...

I have quite a number of Jose Rizal stamps in my collection, but the 1941 apple-hued 2c Commonwealth Regular is one of a kind. This stamp features the young Rizal as rendered by the New York photographer Elaine Rawlinson . The image on this stamp was copied from a menu card which won a stamp design contest sponsored by the Asociacion Filateleca de Filipinas . The stamp cause quite a stir among keen philatelist who noticed that Rizal's hair was parted on the right instead of the usual left!    This is the only Rizal stamp which portrays his hair as such. This stamp also became the first stamp of a series of postage stamps bearing the inscription "United States of America- Commonwealth of the Philippines". This replaced the the 1935 Commonwealth overprint series and as the last of the pre-war issues. I acquired a few of the stamps bearing this inscription and these include the 1906 Jose Rizal PI-USA stamp - the first Jose Rizal stamp ever issued and the first ...

Levi Celerio was a Filipino composer and lyricist, born on April 30, 1910 in Tondo, Manila, Philippines. He received a free education to the Academy of Music in Manila and became the youngest affiliate of the Manila Symphony Orchestra . He was a creative songwriter, with more than 4,000 songs to his acclaim including Filipino folk, Christmas, and love songs that are popular pieces, which many consider to be immortal. Famous for being a lyricist, his songs treasure life; express nationalistic sentiments and complete grand philosophies. At one instance or another, no Filipino can miss the song or lyrics of Levi's Christmas songs namely Pasko na Naman , Ang Pasko ay Sumapit , and Misa de Gallo . He is probably best recognized for being a leaf-player, an achievement where he was place into the Guinness Book of World Records .  The stamp above features the composer Levi Celerio playing the violin. The stamp is one in a set of 4 honoring Filipino National Artists issued on November ...

An outstanding public servant and World War II hero, Roque Ablan was born on August 9, 1906 in Laoag, Ilocos Norte to Victor Ablan and Raymunda Blanco. He obtained his Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1929 and Bachelor of Laws degree in 1930 from the University of the Philippines. That same year, he took the bar examinations, placing 9th among the successful examinees. As a young lawyer, Ablan dedicated himself to helping the poor. In 1937 at age 31 he was elected governor of Ilocos Norte making him the youngest provincial executive of his time. The establishment of Ilocos Norte Provincial Hospital and the Philippine Normal School in Laoag were among his outstanding achievements. He also caused the beautification of the provincial capital, the revival of rural credit associations, and the organization of producers' cooperatives. Admired by the people, he was re-elected in 1941. When World War II broke out, Ablan refused to cooperate with the Japanese. He left the provincial capit...

Nick Joaquin was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels. He was also one of the National Artists of the Philippines for Literature. After winning a Dominican Order-sponsored nationwide essay competition for La Naval de Manila, the University of Santo Tomas awarded Joaquín an honorary Associate in Arts (A.A.) and a scholarship to St. Albert's College, the Dominican monastery in Hong Kong. However, he dropped out after only a year. Upon his return to the Philippines, he joined the Philippines Free Press, starting as a proofreader. Soon this two-time dropout was being noticed for his poems, stories and plays, as well as his journalism under the pen name Quijano de Manila. His journalism was markedly both intellectual and provocative, an unknown genre in the Philippines at that time, raising the level of reportage in the country. Joaquín deeply admired José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Joaquín paid tribute to Rizal by ...

Fernando Poe Jr. was a Filipino actor and cultural icon. From the 1950s, Poe played steadfast film heroes who fight for the common man, which won him respect and admiration. He did not complete high school but went on to win numerous awards and prizes as an actor and film director. During the latter part of his career, he ran an unsuccessful bid for President of the Philippines in the 2004 presidential election against the former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He was honored on May 24, 2006 as Philippine National Artist through Philippine Proclamation No. 1065. In 1965, he shared the lead in The Ravagers, a film depicting the United States and the Philippines working together against Japanese war time occupation. The film is considered one of the most influential Filipino films, and it helped establish Fernando Poe, Jr.'s status as a movie icon. Poe became an award-winning actor and garnered the most best actor awards at the FAMAS. Among the movies that received awards wer...

Carlos L. Quirino was a prominent historian and writer. He is a National Artist for Historical Literature. He was also the first Filipino correspondent for the United Press Institute. Quirino was one of the pioneers of the genre of historical literature in English. He was also renowned for his many biographies of important Filipinos. In particular, he is known for having written one of the earliest biographies in English of Jose Rizal, entitled, The Great Malayan. His books and articles covered and captured many aspects of Philippine history and culture. In 1997, President Fidel V. Ramos added historical literature as a new category in the National Artist Awards and Quirino was its first recipient. His path-breaking books on cartography, Philippine Cartography (1959) and Maps and Views of Old Maynila, are still considered as the best books on the subject. His other books include Quezon, Man of Destiny, Magsaysay of the Philippines, Lives of the Philippine Presidents, The History of ...

Leonor Orosa Goquingco is a Filipino national artist in creative dance. She could play the piano, draw, design scenery and costumes, sculpt, act, direct, dance and choreograph. Her pen name was Cristina Luna and she was known as Trailblazer, Mother of Philippine Theater Dance and Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics. In 1939, Leonor was the only dancer sent on the first cultural mission to Japan, at the age of 19. She produced Circling the Globe (1939) and Dance Panorama in the same year. She created The Elements in 1940, the first ballet choreographed by a Filipino to commissioned music. She also created Sports during the same year, featuring cheerleaders, a tennis match and a basketball game. The first Philippine folkloric ballet, Trend: Return to the Native, was choreographed by Goquingco in 1941. After the Second World War, she organized the Philippine Ballet and brought the famous Filipino novel, Noli Me Tangere, to life. The Noli Dance Suite consisted of several dances. Mari...

María Clara , whose full name is María Clara de los Santos, is the mestiza heroine in Noli Me Tangere, a novel by José Rizal , the national hero of the Republic of the Philippines. Maria Clara is the childhood sweetheart and fiancée of Noli Me Tangere's hero, Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin, the son of Don Rafael Ibarra. Although raised as Santiago "Kapitan Tiyago" de los Santos’s daughter, Maria Clara is the illegitimate offspring of Father Dámaso, a Spanish friar, and Doña Pía Alba. Doña Alba is the wife of Kapitan Tiyago, who are both native Filipinos. Father Damaso (also known as Padre Damaso) is known to Maria Clara as a godfather. Maria Clara never met her mother because Doña Alba died during the delivery of her daughter. She grew under the guidance and supervision of Tía Isabél, Kapitan Tiyago's cousin. While her boyfriend Crisostomo Ibarra was travelling in Europe, Kapitan Tiyago sent her to the Beaterio de Santa Clara, a convent where she developed feminin...

On April 23, 2010, The Philippine Postal Corporation issued a stamp of Eraño G. Manalo, Executive Minister of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC). It is classified as a “Special” kind of issue with a denomination of P 7.00 and quantity of 100,000 pieces. Eraño de Guzman Manalo (January 2, 1925 – August 31, 2009), who is also known as Ka Erdy, was the second Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo , serving from 1963 until 2009. He took over the administration of the church after the death of his father, Felix Manalo , in 1963. He was instrumental in the propagation and expansion of the church internationally. He previously held office as the General Treasurer of the church, and as a District Minister of Manila . He was the fifth child of Felix Y. Manalo and Honorata de Guzman. His name came from the word " New Era " which his father described as a "New Christian Era" when the Iglesia ni Cristo was established. On January 17, 1955, Ka Erdy married Christina Villanue...

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896), was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is the country's national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution. The seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna, Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas and then traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten l...

Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo (June 24, 1860 – May 30, 1946), also simply known as Marcela Agoncillo, was a Filipina renowned in Philippine history as the principal seamstress of the first and official flag of the Philippines, gaining her the title of Mother of the Philippine Flag.   Agoncillo was a daughter of a rich family in her hometown of Taal, Batangas. Finishing her studies at Sta. Catalina College, she acquired her learning in music and feminine crafts. At the age of 30, Agoncillo married Filipino lawyer and jurist Don Felipe Agoncillo and bore him six children. Her marriage led to her important role in Philippine history. When her husband was exiled to Hong Kong during the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution, Agoncillo and the rest of the family joined him and temporarily resided there to avoid the anti-Filipino hostility of some foreign countries. While in Hong Kong, General Emilio Aguinaldo requested her to sew a flag that would represent their country. Agoncillo, her ...

Norberto Romuáldez y López (June 6, 1875 - November 4, 1941) (often referred to as Norberto Romuáldez, Sr. to distinguish him from his son with the same name) was a Philippine writer, politician, jurist and statesman. He was the first Romuáldez to attain national prominence, and is deemed the "Father of the Law on the National Language". He was the uncle of Imelda Marcos, the daughter of his youngest brother Vicente Orestes. Romuáldez grew up in Leyte to miguel romualdez and first achieved status as a writer in the Waray-Waray language. His first Waray zarzuela was An Pagtabang ni San Miguel (The Aid of Saint Michael). In 1908, Romuáldez wrote Bisayan Grammar and Notes on Bisayan Rhetoric and Poetic and Filipino Dialectology, a treatise on the grammar of the Waray-Waray language. The following year (1909) he founded the Sanghiran san Binisaya ha Samar ug Leyte (Academy of the Visayan Language of Samar and Leyte) for the purpose of promoting and intellectualizing Waray-Waray....

Lope K. Santos (September 25, 1879 – May 1, 1963) was a Tagalog language writer from the Philippines. Aside from being a writer, he was also a lawyer, politician, critic, labor leader and considered as "Father of the Philippine National Language and Grammar". He was a Freemason. Santos was born in Pasig, Rizal, Philippines (now a part of Metro Manila) - as Lope C. Santos - to Ladislao Santos and Victoria Canseco, both natives of Rizal province. He used Kanseko instead of Canseco for his middle name to show his nationalism. During his time, the letter C had begun falling out of use in favor of the letter K in the Tagalog alphabet. Santos studied at Escuela Normal Superior de Maestros (Normal Superior School of Teachers) and Escuela de Derecho (Law School); and got his Bachelor of Arts degree in Colegio Filipino (Filipino College). He became an expert in dupluhan, a popular poetical debate competition in his time, which can be compared to balagtasan, a similar contest but with...

Rafael Palma (24 October 1874 – 24 May 1939) was a Filipino politician, newspaperman and mason. He wrote for the newspapers La Independencia, El Nuevo Dia, and La Renacimiento. Palma was born on 24 October 1874 in Tondo, Manila. He attended public schools in Tondo for his elementary and secondary education and went to Ateneo de Manila for college. He also earned a degree in Law from the University of Santo Tomas. He started working for La Independencia after the death of Antonio Luna as an editor under the pen name "Dapit Hapon." He later studied law while keeping his post as the editor of El Renacimiento, the most influential newspaper in Manila during the Spanish colonial period. He was elected as an assemblyman and later as a senator in 1916. He became the first Filipino president of the University of the Philippines and held the post for a decade. In 1933, Manuel Quezon threatened to cut UP's appropriation due to Palma's championing of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act....

Pío Valenzuela (July 11, 1869-April 6, 1956) was a Filipino physician and patriot who was among the leaders of the Katipunan that started the Philippine Revolution against Spain. Valenzuela City in northern Metro Manila was named after him. He wrote his memoirs of the Philippine Revolution in the 1920s, but historians have since been wary of his autobiography because of some inconsistencies in his version of events, particularly about his meeting with José Rizal in Dapitan in 1896. Valenzuela was the first mayor (American regime) of municipality of Polo (now Valenzuela City) from 1899-1900 before he became the governor of Bulacan province from 1921-1925. Valenzuela was born in Polo, Bulacan (Now Barangay Polo, Valenzuela City) to Francisco Valenzuela and Lorenza Alejandrino, who both came from wealthy families. After he was tutored at home, he was brought to Manila to study at Colegio de San Juan de Letran. In 1888, he enrolled at University of Santo Tomas and finished his Licenciad...

Josefa Llanes Escoda (September 20, 1898–c. January 6, 1945) was a well-known Filipino advocate of women's right of suffrage and founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. Escoda was born in Dingras, Ilocos Norte. She was the eldest of the seven children of Mercedes Madamba and Gabriel Llanes. She was valedictorian in grade school and salutatorian in high school in Ilocos Norte. She went to Philippine Normal School in Manila to earn her teaching degree, and graduated with honors in 1919. While working as a teacher, she earned a high school teachers certificate from the University of the Philippines in 1922. After obtaining her teacher's certificate, she became a social worker for the Philippine Chapter of the American Red Cross (the Philippines was a colony of the United States at the time). The Red Cross granted her a scholarship to the United States, where she earned a masteral degree in Sociology. During her first trip to the United States, while she was at the Women...

Last July 26, 2010, the Philippine Postal Corporation issued two new stamps of President Benigno S. Aquino III . It is classified as a “Special” kind of issue with denominations of P 7.00 and P 40.00 and quantity of 350,000 pieces and 100,000 pieces, respectively. The said stamps relive the historical moments of President Aquino’s inaugural speech and oath-taking last June 30, 2010 at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park. These newly issued stamps are a nice addition to the Commemorative stamps and first day cover issued on the day of his inauguration last June 30, 2010. The technical description of the President Benigno S. Aquino III stamps are as follows: K ind of Issue: Special, Denomination and Quantity: Php7.00 / 350,000 pieces, Php 40.00/100,000 pieces, Date of Issue: July 26, 2010, Last date of Sale: July 25, 2011 (or as stocks allow), Size: 40 mm x 30 mm (Php 7.00), 30 mm x 40 mm (Php 40.00), Sheet Composition: 16 on (4 x 4), Kind of Printing: Litho offset, Paper: U...

Dr. Manuel S. Enverga , founder: president of the Luzonian University which he converted into a foundation that now bears his name, the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation in Lucena City, and Representative of the First District of Quezon from 1953 to 1968, spent the remaining years of his retirement from politics nurturing the growth of the higher education institution he founded to provide affordable, relevant, and quality education to his countrymen and to write about his vision for the country, foremost of which was to advance the nationalist cause . A staunch nationalist, Congressman Enverga authored the change of the celebration of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12 which President Diosdado Macapagal adopted and signed into an executive order. He also spearheaded the reexamination of Philippine foreign policy to open trade, scientific and economic cooperation with socialist countries to reduce dependence on the traditional American market, an advocacy that was clearly ah...

Eduardo Quisumbíng y Argüelles (1895, Santa Cruz, Laguna–1986) was a leading authority of plants in the Philippines. He earned his BSA at University of the Philippines Los Baños in 1918, his MS at the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 1921, and Ph. D. in Plant Taxonomy, Systematics and Morphology (biology) at the University of Chicago in 1923. From 1920-26 he was attached to the College of Agriculture in U.P., and from 1926-28 to the University of California; in 1928 he was appointed Systematic Botanist and from February 1934 Acting Chief of the Natural Museum Division of the Bureau of Science, Manila, equivalent to the present Director of the National Museum. When assigned to the U.S. Navy in Guiuau, at the southern tip of Samar, he undertook collections in that region. He retired as Director in November 1961, and was for some years attached to the Araneta University. Dr. Quisumbing undertook restoration of the Herbarium which was completely destroyed during the war. Dr. Qui...